Always
by ComicalParodox
Summary: Jason always knew he wasn't the best of people but maybe, for her, he could try to be.


**A/N: Because Kira Sema asked for more papa Jason ;)**

When he first brought Carrie home, everything was a mess. Not his apartment as he made sure to actually chose one that was suitable for a child to live in. But more figuratively of a mess as he had no idea what to do with this two year old girl, no, scratch that, the sick two year old girl who had just gotten over the experimental drug that someone had tried to test on abducted street kids.

That was how he met Carrie, she was part of the group of children that he helped out, each teen or child sitting in the hospital for two weeks as the experimental drug they had been force-fed was cleared from their blood, but even now Carrie still need to visiting the clinic to get a weekly shot that helped her immune system fight it.

Nell Little, the Batgirl of here and now was a nurse working with the children area in the hospital and had called him when the children asked about him, and who the hell was he to not come and just make sure everyone was doing their jobs and helping those teens.

There were sever kids, including Carrie, each one was picked from the street and would have been thrown to foster care and lost in the system had he not gone to find ever parent of those children who in fact had been looking for their kids.

All except Carrie, who`s mother was an older patient from the same case, a teen mother that died from the overdose that killed four other teens before he even knew there was a connection between the deaths, that was on him.

So he took her in, not because of some obligation or sense of guilt but because the kid kind of saw him at the hospital once and latched on for dear life. Nell having the pictures to prove it.

the first day was hard, he couldnt sleep, even if the tiny toddle was out like a light, his mind racing about what to do next, where to go from here and really he should of just man`d up and asked Nell, Barbara or Stephanie, all three having offered to help, the younger two having already met the girl as like the hospital, both worked down at Leslie`s clinic, Stephanie having taken over after Leslie`s passing a few years back.

But no, he does the worst thing possible, he reads how to`s online and reads stories and child development and how to raise a kid, making him want to bleach his brain by the time morning comes around and the tiny red-haired girl shuffled out of the bedroom in her green pajamas that, yes, Nell picked out for her, saying some shit about how they matched her eyes or whatever.

breakfast wasnt bad though, after the disaster of trying to dress the child who had more of an idea then he did he decided that he was too on edge to cook anything, much less be near something that produced a flame.

So they went down to the diner.

People knew who he was, technically he`s no longer dead as a few years back Bruce did something to his papers and (without telling him) thankfully the media didnt care or even notice because there wasnt some shitty party, thank god, but even before that people in Crime Alley, Devil`s scquare put his face to that of the Red Hood and he always thought of it as an advantage of sorts, not that it mattered.

But he was more aware of the eyes he got walking down the street, killer or the night, prince of Gotham, worldly known terrorist, holding a little two year old girls hand as they walked down the street.

He was so glad Dick wasnt here.

"Yo` hood!"

No, this was worse, street kids. He huffed a loud breath turned around to see three teens hurrying his way and he wondered it he should pull out his gun because all these kids around him made him look soft, but then again, did he really give a fuck, because these three other teens were also part of the grope recused from the experimental drug, thought they never got tested as they were "awaiting trails".

And they really werent bad kids.

"Hey!" the scruffy pale teen, Zach, had a hole in every article of clothes he wore, not because he couldnt afford new clothes it was mostly just because the kid horsed around alot and ended up breaking and tearing a lot of things. "Who`s the kid here?" he asked, blinking down at the girl that whinnied loudly as she wrapped her tiny arms around Jason`s leg and buried her face in the back of his knee to hide because she was still wary of some people.

"This," he huffed kneeling down and picking the little red haired girl up, fluffy red jacket and all, "Is Carrie."

"Cool," Tommy nodded, the dark skinned boy with the big bush of black hair on his head that he kept extremely clean, almost as clean as the three hundred dollar shoes he was wearing now, and the only reason Jason didnt bust the kid when he saw his wearing them the first time was because he saw this kid work his ass off all summer for those, "You watchin` her for the day?"

"No," Jason said because of course Tommy and Zach, and Anna, the other girl in all black that didnt usually say to much, knew he had a big family, he blamed Dick, who kept trying to come by ever friday and chat for some shitty reasons, Jason was just sure that the man was bored and who could blame him? After giving up his hero jig he had gone on as a detective of the GCPD the moment he head applied for the job, Dick`s old work as some type of agent or some shit helping boast his status.

"No, I-I kind of adopted her." Jason said, watching the teens faces.

"Cool!" Zach grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet and grinning widely, "So this is like your daughter now, sweet, kids got it good protection wise you know." Zach said waving to Carrie who looked at Jason who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, anyway, are you three watching your backs, because I swear I~m not gonna give you a hand the next time some weirdo tries to abduct you." Jason warned and Anna nodded with a small amused smile, "yeah, we got our phones, we`re headed to Zach`s now."

"Got this new killer game, gonna be sweet." Zach nodded his head up and down enthusiastically and Jason resisted the erge to roll his eyes again.

"Right, well then get lost, I got shi- stuff I need to do." he huffed, glancing at Carrie who didnt notice his slip up. Would she care? He wasnt sure if no cussing was just a bad word thing parents did or it toddlers actually had a weird diversion to the words.

"Bye Hood, bye Carrie!" Tommy waved and as Jason turned around the little girl opened and closed her hand, "Bye-bye."

finally after that diversion they made it to the diner, the waitress adoring Carrie who he found out was an awesome wing man, because he was totally alway trying to get that girls number but he brings Carrie in and the woman jus writes it on his cup when she brings over the chocolate milk for the girl sitting across from him.

"Okay Carrie," he nodded, watching the girl pick at her pancake with a odd look, "you know Steph and Nell right? the two doctor ladies and the corners of the girls lips twitched upwards as she nodded her head, red hair bobbing up and down.

"Awesome," Jason nodded, "thing is, their really the only two people who have seen you, and theres another woman named Barbara, but you havent met her yet, point is, if you want we can go meet everyone, say hi today, get a feel of how weird and crazy everyone is and we can head out and never bother with those freaks again."

Carrie frowned, clearly not understanding Jason`s divertion to the who family meeting thing just yet, he`s been regularly avoiding then since he came back from the dead, why stop now?

"Dis` is weird." Carrie said poking at her pancake and Jason chuckled, "Dont like pancakes?"

Carrie shook her head vigorously before jumping out of her seat, Jason making to get up when the two year old jumped up to sit next right next to him at the booth, glancing at his chili-dog that rested awesome in its styrofoam container.

"Can I try?" she asked an Jason laughed, reaching to grab a hand full of napkins.

"Hell yeah, here, this shit can get really messy." he said as he pushed the container in front of her, taking his other chili dog out, the girl grabbing the second with tiny hand and giggling as she tried to make sure none of the contents fell out, "it`s gooey!" she giggled and Jason huffed a smirk, "yeah, but after you eat a few of these, you become a master at eating `em and no one`ll e the wise. Ready?" he asked and the girl nodded, looking up at him as he took a large bite of his before she looked questionably at her own before biting into it, a smile appearing on her face as she chewed, "S`good!" she mouth and Jason laughed.

"Yeah, this place has the best Chili-dogs ever, milk-shacks arnt bad either." Jason nodded and Carrie grinned, "I`ve never had a milk-shake." she grinned and Jason rolled his eyes, "Liar... which do you want, Oreo or banana?"

"Oreo!"

After making a big mistake and giving the toddler the biggest sugar rush, they walked it off all the way to the Grayson household, the whole was the red haired girl running in front arms spread out and making plane sounds past her giggles. Jason picking the girl up and setting her on his shoulder as they got closer, the girl yelling with delight.

"Your tall." she giggled.

"Maybe your just really short." he pointed out and Carrie laughed just as Jason put her back down, grabbing her hand and knocking on the door, waiting as patiently as he could, both other tem bouncing on their toes as a Red haired woman opened the door, "Jason?"

"Hey," Jason nodded towards Carrie, "Thought we`d get introductions over with, this is Carrie Kelly."

"Nice to meet you," Barbara grinned, pulling her chair backwards, "come on in! God, It`s freezing out there!"

Jason was about to take a step in when the little girl tugged gently on his hand and he looked down to see her frowning. quickly he kneeled down, "What?"

"Is this the oder` lady?" Carrie asked worriedly and Jason nodded, the little girl blinking, "W-what if they dont like me?" she whispered, and Jason huffed a small laugh, fixing the girls scarf, "One, Barbara will love you, because you`ve got red hair like her, and green eyes and a big attitude."

"Hey." Barbara warned.

"See?" Jason hummed the tiny child giggling, "And Dick-,"

Carrie gasped and Jason couldnt help the laugh, "Yeah, well, Dick is the biggest people person ever, so yeah, you could kick the dude in the nuts and he would still trying and come over to your house like you`re best buddies, trust me, I know."

"O`tay." Carrie nodded and Jason grinned, "Awesome, come on, it really is freezing out here."

They stepped inside, closing the door behind them, Jason pulling off the girl`s scar and helping with her coat as she glanced around the arm house, Barbara making her way into the living room, and the little girl trailing after as Jason tossed his jacket down before following, plopping down on the armrest of the sofa and leaning down to quickly pick up Carrie from behind and set her on the sofa, a giggle leaving her lips.

"So, you filed all the paper work?" Barbara asked as she sipped her coffee and Jason nodded running a hand through his hair, "Yeah, got it done weeks back, Nell helped out with alot of it and there was still a tone of shit to work through but yeah, filed, locked away and living with me as of yesterday."

"Well, like we promised we kept it all on the down low so you`d have time to get situated before Dick pounced with open arms of love and joy, but he`ll sure love the surprise." Barbara chuckled, Carrie looking up at Jason before looking at Barbara, "Are you my aunt?"

Barbara grinned, "Yep, threw marriage, because I married his brother."

"Dick." Carrie said with a giggle and Barbara laughed, nodding her head up and down as Jason made a face, "Not my brother, he`s more like-,"

"Jason stop," Barbara said, "You`d confuse any other person by trying to explain all of the different families, yes, Jason has a brother Carrie, Actually Jason has three brothers and a sister."

"Do they all have funny names too?" she asked and Jason laughed, leaning close to the coffee table and grabbing the gingerbread cookie off the plate, handing it to the girl who started to nibble.

"Nope, Dick is the acceptation." Barbara smiled warmly, and Carrie nodded, looking back up at Jason, "Are they all nice too?"

"Damian`s not."

"Jason! Shut up, he`s kidding Carrie." Barbara reassured but Jason ignored her, "And Timmy is kind of a freak."

"Are they good?" she asked worriedly Jason opening his mouth before he caught the girl`s look, she meant good, as in not evil like the people who he had rescued her from and Jason nodded, "Yeah, they just talk to much."

"Like him." Barbara nodded dryly, narrowing her eyes at him and Jason stuck out his tongue at her even though she was kind of right.

The front door opened and a tall man stepped through, shuffling his shoes on the mat with a loud huff, shivering violently as he pulled off his coat, "cold cod cold." he gasped, Carrie yelping silently in caution and squishing closer to Jason, wrapping her arms around his lower arm as she hid in the crease in the sofa. Jason rolling his eyes.

Dick instantly spotted him and Jason growled at the stupid grin on his face as the man threw down his coat and, "Jason? What`re you doing here!"

"Not looking forward to seeing you." he said with a sigh, and Dick only rolled his eyes.

"Liar, why else would you be here...unless someone died..."Dick gaped eyes wide enough to see the small scar over his left eyebrow that had almost nearly cost him his eye once apon a time.

"Yeah, do I look like the fucking grim reaper?" he growled, "And even then I wouldnt be the one to tell you shit, thats Bruce`s job, not mine."

"Jason." Barbara pressed glancing at Carrie who was still out of the line of sight and Jason nodded before sighing, looking at the older man and gesturing him forward Dick looking his up and down like this could be some sort of trick, "What-,"

Jason twisted and little, grabbing Carrie`s sides and picking her up, setting the girl on his lap and instantly Dick gasped at him, "Jason?"

"Yeah, Yeah I Bruce`d." Jason nodded as the little girl frowned at Dick before leaned over and wrapping her arms around his neck, whining pitifully.

"S`okay Carrie, this is just Dick, you know the weirdo we talked about?" Jason chuckled and Dick bunched over going to sit beside Barbara who flicked snow and ice chips from his shoulder amply. The older man waving excitedly, "Hi Carrie!"

The little red haired girl glanced at him cautiously biting er lower lips before letting go of Jason`s neck and waving similar to how she waved to the three street kids, opening and closing her hand like she was catching fire-flies. "Hi."

"God, Jason, she`s adorable!" Dick smiled, "Where did you find her?"

"Last case I worked on, people were abducting stray kids around Devil`s square and Crime Alley, but I didnt meet her till after she got treatment for the experimental drug." Jason said and Dick raised his eyebrows, "Any side affects?"

"only death by overdose, that and this shit kills your immune system like that," Jason huffed snapping his fingers, "Carrie here only got a small dose of six injections, twenty being the limit but she still needs a shot once a week to help her system from getting sick."

"Fuc-Fudge." Dick corrected and Jason rolled his eyes, ametuar.

"So Carrie, you gotta last name or are you taking a new one? Todd, Wayne?" He asked and Jason made a face, "Of course she`s got a name you idiot, Carrie Kelly."

"Cute." Dick grinned.

"You know," Jason chuckled, "Before we got here we stopped off at Old Toolies."

"Yeah?" Dick laughed, "Chili-dogs?"

"Fuck yeah, Carrie had three." Jason chuckled and Barbara rolled her eyes.

"You must be so proud." She mocked and Jason shrugged.

"Kinda."

The rest of the hour went by similar to this, talking and chatting away about the little red haired girl who was still holding onto Jason, though the tension in her shoulders having drained long again and her eyes dropped tiredly the little girl yawning as the adults continued to talk before she pulled up her knees and snuggled in the crock of the Red Hood`s arm closing her eyes tiredly and before Jason could do more Dick snapped a picture with his phone, "I`m saveing this picture if its the last thing I ever do."

"she`s really out isnt she?" Barbara observed as Jason picked her up to shift further onto the sofa instead of on the arm-rest the girl still sleeping.

"She`s probably crashing from the milk-shack she had, then the cookies and the awesomeness of those chili-dogs." He said and Dick huffed a breath, "God jay, she`ll be out forever with a list like that."

"Good, it`ll give me some time to work on my guns before we go see replacement and Stephanie." Jason huffed, "They still got that honey moon vibe going so they wont be too bad-,"

"But It`s Damian your worried about." Dick said and Jason nodded.

"He`ll be fine," Barbara smiled, "Nell`s with him today at the manor, so she`ll put him straight if he tried to be an ass, and dont think for a moment Bruce`ll let him be mean to this sweet little girl."

"Yeah," Jason huffed, before standing up, "shit, I should go, get Carrie to bed, clean my guns, go to the store, I swear this kinds should like, come with more then a few clothes, then I`ll head over to replacements."

Barbara smiled warmly at him waving her fingers as Dick nodded, jumping to his feet while Jason leaned down to pick the girl up into his arms, walking back the door. giving the little girl to Dick who bounced excitedly a wide smile on his face, "She is adorable."

"Duh." Jason smirked as he pulled on his jacket before helping the sleeping child with hers, the little girl whining tiredly in her sleep. waving goodbye to Dick and Barbara as he jogged down the steps, walking back to the apartment, Carrie curled against his shoulder, hiding rom the cold wind.

By the time he got back, kicking the door closed and laid the girl in her bed her tiny arms clinging to his jacket like a life line before he pulled her fingers away carefully. Pulling the blankets over her shoulders and the girl smiled, "Night-night."

"Night Care-bear. I`ll be out there when you wake up." He smiled, closing the blinds to her room to halt the sun for her and Carrie rubbed at her green eyes, "Promise."

"Always."


End file.
